By Dan Radel, Asbury Park Press

SEA GIRT -‑ In the end, Lawrence Kaehler did not return for his beached sailboat Alestorm, and a judge ruled that he must turn over its ownership to the borough and pay a $2,000 fine.

Kaehler, 52 of Deltona, Florida, appeared virtually in Municipal Court on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to improper storage of a vessel on the borough beach. An additional charge from the New Jersey State Police for abandonment of a vessel was dropped.

In lieu of that charge, however, Kaehler must sign over the title of the vessel to the borough within one week of Wednesday’s court ruling, so that the borough can take possession of it in order to remove it from the beach at the borough’s expense.

If Kaehler does not sign the papers, Judge Paul Capotorto said an additional $3,000 fine will be tacked on. Capotorto added that if Kaehler does not sign the papers, he must fly to Sea Girt next week and sign them in person. If not, a bench warrant will be placed on him for his arrest.

Kaehler stranded the sailboat on the Sea Girt beach on Sept. 20. He previously told the Asbury Park Press that he bought the 30-foot sailboat from a private owner in Great Kills, Staten Island, and was on his way to Cocoa Beach, Florida, when he hit a rough patch of water.

He beached next to the Wreck Pond outfall pipe. He said he mistook the beacon on the pipe for the Manasquan Inlet. Coincidentally, he beached in front of the historic Sea Girt Lighthouse at the location of the old Wreck Pond inlet, which has been sanded in for decades, save for when Superstorm Sandy reopened it in 2012.